Congress leader killed in his Ghaziabad home (Lead)

Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh), Dec 11 (IANS) A senior Congress leader of Uttar Pradesh was shot dead in his home in Ghaziabad by unidentified assailants here Thursday morning.Pintu Tyagi, a member of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), was killed by armed men who came to his home in RDC Colony of this town, adjoining New Delhi, and shot him when he came out.

According to the police, two unidentified persons rang the door bell which Tyagi’s wife, Anuradha Tyagi, answered. They asked to meet Tyagi. She admitted them in and went back into the kitchen where she was preparing tea for her husband.

A third man apparently joined them there, the police said, citing Tyagi’s wife.

Meanwhile, Tyagi came out of his bedroom and went to meet the visitors. However, within a minute, his wife heard two gunshots and rushed out, also calling their son Kunal to chase the attackers who fled the spot after shooting Tyagi.

Both mother and son chased the assailants for almost 100 metres but were unable to catch them. They then rushed the critically injured leader to local Yashoda Hospital where doctors pronounced him dead.

Tyagi had contested the Murad Nagar assembly seat on Congress ticket but lost to the Bahujan Samaj Party’s Raj Pal Tyagi, who is now a minister in the Mayawati government. His wife told IANS that he had no personal or business enmity with anyone.

“This is the second murder of a local politician after the brutal murder of BJP leader Raghuvir Bichhal, who was murdered a month back. Law and order situation during the Mayawati government has deteriorated a lot,” said local MP Surendra Goel.

Ghaziabad’s police chief L. Ravi Kumar said the killing could be related to a property dispute.

“We are investigating the case from all possible angles and on the basis of the description furnished by Tyagi’s wife, the sketches of the criminals are being prepared,” he said, adding three teams have been constituted to trace the attackers.